Both The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates and CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill were anxious to pass on to their followers a story that quoted Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal as saying that “the Confederate flag is a symbol of my heritage.”
The satirical piece, which migrated to several parody sites today, was yet another shot at Jindal’s heritage.
It would seem Bobby is once again trying to put mileage between himself and his family’s immigrant past. It’s no secret that Jindal, the first Indian-American governor in US history, is uncomfortable in his own skin. For years now he has tried to distance himself from his Indian roots, and his remarks this morning are just the latest in a long line of bizarre statements and actions.
Though the use of “Bobby” to refer to Jindal should have been a giveaway that this was not a serious news outlet, it wasn’t that long ago that the Washington Post ran a piece called “From Piyush to Bobby: How does Jindal feel about his family’s past?” quoting a political science professor as saying that “There’s not much Indian left in Bobby Jindal.”
To his credit, Coates apologized to Jindal before deleting the tweet.
https://twitter.com/tanehisicoates/status/618959694472814592
Still, plenty of his followers who saw the retweet were also a bit too eager to believe it, and a good portion of those, learning that they’d been had, rationalized that it might as well have been a real quote.
@tanehisicoates "Which is why I go by Bobby instead of my birth name because my constituents are in no way racist xenophobes."
— Paul S. (@ovid9) July 9, 2015
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@tanehisicoates If the confederates were in charge, Jindal would be lucky not to be a slave, much less be running for President.
— Virginia Dreaming (@Picklenose1) July 9, 2015
@tanehisicoates Wow. Another southern politician completely unaware of our history.
— Ruth Ann (@Fairy_Gmother) July 9, 2015
@tanehisicoates Jindal says dumb shit like someone is daring him to say it.
— Jordan Boston Jones (@CRAZYDEEPSTATE) July 9, 2015
https://twitter.com/Kaiten1978/status/618957463828697088
@tanehisicoates isn't Bobby Jindal Indian-American? Or is he just that stupid that he'll embrace a racist symbol?
— Dan (@DannyBallgame9) July 9, 2015
@tanehisicoates Jindal is delusional and a self-hater. And an ally of racist southerners – and racists in general. A real creep.
— Susan Packer Davis? (@PackerDavis) July 9, 2015
@tanehisicoates here in Louisiana we just want him to go away, not futile prez campaign, just away. Perhaps a nice room w padding.
— Sam Jasper (@macfitte) July 9, 2015
https://twitter.com/_Harry_Tuttle_/status/618958292497354752
https://twitter.com/christophmedia/status/618959654198980609
@tanehisicoates Has Jindal ever been checked for mental illness, perhaps a disassociative disorder?
— hugochavezbaseball (@billycbolshevik) July 9, 2015
@tanehisicoates What I tweeted is still true anyway, based on all his other statements and policies.
— Susan Packer Davis? (@PackerDavis) July 9, 2015
.@tanehisicoates @Twitch8p9s @_Almaqah no apology necessary. It's wouldn't surprise us in LA if he did say it.
— Sam Jasper (@macfitte) July 9, 2015
https://twitter.com/LearnedHand/status/618961933732040704
The parody sites are getting to be a real annoyance.
@_Almaqah @tanehisicoates @haroldpollack if they teach people to think critically about viral bullshit, they will have done a great service
— Isaac Rabinovitch (@isaac32767) July 9, 2015
Maybe Marc Lamont Hill could help teach that critical skill. Professor?
Oh, BTW, @marclamonthill attacked Bobby Jindal with a fake news article today. Still no apology that I've seen. pic.twitter.com/JxHlTp33VY
— Griswold Christmas Vacation (@HashtagGriswold) July 8, 2015
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